tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post1933244703585533151..comments2024-03-28T10:18:00.370-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: X-amining New Mutants Annual #4Austin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-18244094794982193372014-05-11T18:48:51.131-05:002014-05-11T18:48:51.131-05:00I've said before (reading this stretch for the...<br><br />I've said before (reading this stretch for the first time) that having Brigman on <i>New Mutants</i> instead of Blevins would've been nice. Still think so. Carry on.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-70069566986179656072014-05-05T03:52:20.264-05:002014-05-05T03:52:20.264-05:00Well, from the original team (by the time Liefeld ...Well, from the original team (by the time Liefeld got control of the book post X-tinction Agenda):<br /><br />Warlock - dead<br />Cypher - dead<br />Magik - de-aged back to being a child<br />Wolfsbane - In Genosha until Peter David gets her back a few months later<br />Magma - Written out and forgotten about by Simonson, with no interest in being used by Liefeld<br />Karma - Written out and forgotten about by Claremont, with no interest in being used by Liefeld<br />Sunspot - Written out by Liefeld from the team, but still appears in X-force until he rejoins (Nicieza's idea?)<br />Mirage - Written out and left in Asgard by Simonson and/or Liefeld<br /><br />Of the people above, Sunspot will rejoin X-force during it's 2nd year, and Mirage will much much later. But other than those 2 and Cannonball, none of the others join X-force, though understandable in some cases.wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-15052080393867261402014-05-05T01:13:04.126-05:002014-05-05T01:13:04.126-05:00So whether or not it's a power overkill, it...So whether or not it's a power overkill, it's a massive character overkill. In hindsight it's no wonder Dani decided later on to stay in Asgard, like there was no more match for her on Earth. And when I say Dani, I mean Louise Simonson.<br /><br />Which is sad because Dani <i>is</i> a great character who essentially got robbed from us. Chances are if her leadership had been there in the lastest NM issues she just might have with her mere presence fought back on Liefeld and Cable turning the New Mutants into wrong direction.<br /><br />Well I say New Mutants but who of the classic team actually went on to form the X-Force? Cannonball alone? They did drop a plenty of members post-Claremont.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-13216977763111940912014-05-05T00:50:50.881-05:002014-05-05T00:50:50.881-05:00Drew, as her actual mutant power goes, you do have...Drew, as her actual mutant power goes, you do have a point. I think the problem comes from the fact that yet another character bump goes to someone who already was introduced as the team individual in #1, then was shown to be the natural leader soon afterwards, <i>then</i> was bumped to be a Valkyrie with a death-seeing power and given a winged horse.<br /><br />That's a lot of something compared for example to Rahne whose development in the same time is relaxing a bit in her religious fervor, while in the core staying the same lycanthrope. Who Dani can understand the best because she also has this empathic connection with animals.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-8320399585628767312014-05-03T21:16:36.247-05:002014-05-03T21:16:36.247-05:00Some of the comments are a bit unfair. Dani's ...Some of the comments are a bit unfair. Dani's power bump could be compared to Tarot's solid "phantom beings", and as she had mentioned, she did show the potential for this power prior. In that respect, her power is just a combination of telepathy and telekinesis (re-arranging atoms with psionic energy). Further the White Queen did use her hands to direct her psi-blasts. She did this, with an identical pose fwiw, during the scene where she fought Phoenix when Jean came to rescue Storm in the start of the Dark Phoenix Saga. But I can't excuse the art, nor did I think it was in character for Rahne to understand Amara's feelings given what Empath has done. His rehabilitation never worked, and Illyana seemed the most in character within that scene.Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06311391850290478528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-20049030678638947192014-05-03T15:22:25.359-05:002014-05-03T15:22:25.359-05:00Teebore: These are actually the Blevins-designed u...Teebore: <i>These are actually the Blevins-designed uniforms, so you don't have to feel bad for not liking them. :)</i><br /><br />Hmh. Sunspot is the most horrid, and that isn't Adams. Wolfsbane isn't, Mirage isn't, Magik kind of works but isn't, Doug's dead, Karma's gone... Yes. It's that darn Cannonball that got me distracted I guess, he has an Adams, the rest have switched all right (on mobile, working on memory). Probably didn't like the pink masks.<br /><br />Actually they aren't that bad really, except Roberto is wearing an abomination and I have probably judged all of them based on that.<br /><br /><i>Well, the Magus story was still Claremont, and I still maintain that not all of Simonson's run is terrible, but there's definitely a sense that the title was meandering/adrift when Liefeld came aboard, coming off the interminably long Asgard story.</i><br /><br />Yes, I should have emphasized that Magus was mentioned as "from but not including", because what's more Claremont than a teenage girl getting a full blast from Ape's pleasure gun?<br /><br />It was Claremont's last NM right, barring fill-ins? It's actually the only genuine NM issues my local publisher ever put out on, I liked it well and with it, the Wildways Annual by Claremont/Davis and Asgard SE by Claremont/Adams my standard for New Mutants has been yanked way too high.<br /><br /><i>Say what you will about his art (and we will) and what it led to, but there's no denying his arrival gave the series a focus and direction it had been lacking.</i><br /><br />Yes. In hindsight it all should have been killed with fire, but back then the... Upstarts generation brought something inspiring and energetic all right when something was badly needed. It's just terrible to think which is worse: they were given plotting rights for the flagship titles overnight without anything to show for it because the higher-ups genuinely thought they had the next generation's John Byrnes, Frank Millers and Walter Simonsons in their hands, or that the higher-ups didn't even care about the plots at all and just went all-in for the contrived poses, tits and guns.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-62798594570983649832014-05-03T12:19:06.740-05:002014-05-03T12:19:06.740-05:00@Mela: This story is like a checklist of stuff tha...@Mela: <i>This story is like a checklist of stuff that annoys me about Simonson's run. </i><br /><br />Yeah, it's like a perfect storm of Simonson's <i>New Mutants</i>. <br /><br /><i>This starts the trend of futzing with Dani's powers to the point where her being depowered actually made her a lot clearer.</i><br /><br />Indeed. Dani the powerless hand-to-hand combatant with a knack for leadership is probably the best use of the character since Claremont wrote her. <br /><br />@Teemu: <i>But these kiddos and their ugly uniforms (yes, Adams' design but not drawn by him, a massive difference)</i><br /><br />These are actually the Blevins-designed uniforms, so you don't have to feel bad for not liking them. :)<br /><br /><i>Was I/am I so spoiled or ruined by Claremont and his definite versions of the characters, or have they been pretty much directionlessly freewheeling since the Magus story under Simonson that the title actually was served well by having it given to Liefeld, for a while?</i><br /><br />Well, the Magus story was still Claremont, and I still maintain that not all of Simonson's run is terrible, but there's definitely a sense that the title was meandering/adrift when Liefeld came aboard, coming off the interminably long Asgard story. <br /><br />Say what you will about his art (and we will) and what it led to, but there's no denying his arrival gave the series a focus and direction it had been lacking. <br /><br />@Mike: <i>Speaking of that series, it's too bad Wells left and Abnett & Lanning failed to write the characters convincingly.</i><br /><br />I'm actually in the middle of their run right now, and yeah, the difference between them and what Wells was doing is striking, and disappointing. <br /><br />@wwk5d: <i> I wish she had been doing the artwork instead of Belvins, since her depiction of the NM actually has them looking like kids. As opposed to Blevins' anorexic midgets with unnaturally large heads.</i><br /><br />I would have enjoyed Brigman on this series. Her work was never flashy, but reliably consistent. <br /><br />@Teemu: <i>Should be NM Annual 4, btw, not 3. Probably came from the connected X-Factor Annual being number 3.</i><br /><br />Indeed. Thanks, I fixed it. <br /><br />@Anonymous: <i>Don't feel bad about getting the annual number wrong- Marvel misnumbered Daredevil Annual 5 as Annual 4.</i><br /><br />Ha! I know that the "Days of Future Present" <i>New Mutants</i> annual gets mislabeled as part 2 when it's actually part 3 (or vice versa), but I did not know that. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-69669493965043455162014-05-03T09:03:12.743-05:002014-05-03T09:03:12.743-05:00Don't feel bad about getting the annual number...Don't feel bad about getting the annual number wrong- Marvel misnumbered Daredevil Annual 5 as Annual 4.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-87681749030022101092014-05-03T02:59:37.106-05:002014-05-03T02:59:37.106-05:00Selene? I first thought Tessa, but of course that&...Selene? I first thought Tessa, but of course that's rather a Selene uniform. I'd also accept her being yet another Jean Grey running around this time in her Black Queen of the Hellfire Club persona, as metacommentary on how things have been lately. The Lords Cardinal were probably dealing with the demons for to get their hands washed of it all.<br /><br />Should be NM Annual 4, btw, not 3. Probably came from the connected X-Factor Annual being number 3. Doesn't really matter, I'm starting to see why there are people thinking if it wasn't drawn by Adams or Davis it doesn't count.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-27711186081663555812014-05-03T00:34:08.984-05:002014-05-03T00:34:08.984-05:00"Sebastian Shaw, meanwhile, shows up to fight..."Sebastian Shaw, meanwhile, shows up to fight looking like he got pulled out of a sumo match for some reason."<br /><br />And of course Selene does have him by the balls in that picture, doesn't she? Speaking of, why is she depicted as a redhead here? Talk about being off model. <br /><br />Also off-model? Emma firing energy beams from her hands. <br /><br />Still, Brigman does a nice job on the art work. I wish she had been doing the artwork instead of Belvins, since her depiction of the NM actually has them looking like kids. As opposed to Blevins' anorexic midgets with unnaturally large heads.<br /><br />@Mela sounds like the perfect assessment of where the title is at this point, along with Teebore's assessment of the kids as (nearly) unsympathetic brats and Magento actually making sense in what he says. wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-28993685707848649302014-05-02T12:30:55.473-05:002014-05-02T12:30:55.473-05:00At least this issue has art by June Brigman, a ver...At least this issue has art by June Brigman, a very good cartoonist.<br /><br />Ugh, Dani could make stuff out of thin air? Seriously? Stupid. In the Zeb Wells-written New Mutants series, she had no powers and worked much better as a character. <br /><br />Speaking of that series, it's too bad Wells left and Abnett & Lanning failed to write the characters convincingly. I've liked a lot of their work, from Ressurection Man to Annihilation, but their New Mutants was a misfire. Going by these posts, it's kind of like going from Claremont to Simonson<br />- Mike Loughlin Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-14628221990822732282014-05-02T09:32:11.506-05:002014-05-02T09:32:11.506-05:00Magneto sports that small angular "m" em...Magneto sports that small angular "m" emblem on his chest with his old uniform and continues to do so in Avengers West Coast "Darker than Scarlet" storyline where he's a villain really and where also Wanda adopts one to pin her cloak with... Was there ever any deeper meaning given for it?<br /><br />That's pretty much all I get from this. I was totally in with the New Mutants when they occasionally co-starred in Claremont's UXM issues or when I was treated a rare treat of them in their own title in the form of the NW Special Edition in Asgard or the Wildways annual or UXM annual 10. But these kiddos and their ugly uniforms (yes, Adams' design but not drawn by him, a massive difference)... I get absolutely no hold of them.<br /><br />Was I/am I so spoiled or ruined by Claremont and his definite versions of the characters, or have they been pretty much directionlessly freewheeling since the Magus story under Simonson that the title actually was served well by having it given to Liefeld, for a while?Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-6860119315803785332014-05-02T07:13:37.728-05:002014-05-02T07:13:37.728-05:00This story is like a checklist of stuff that annoy...This story is like a checklist of stuff that annoys me about Simonson's run. Dubious power tweak? Check. Magneto mischaracterization? Check. Teenagers acting like kindergarteners? Check. Using the "heart of the team" character of Rahne to justify that godawful Magma/Empath romance? Big check. Illyana is literally the only person with a brain in that scene, and it's probably meant to show she's overly cynical & more corrupted or something.<br /><br />This starts the trend of futzing with Dani's powers to the point where her being depowered actually made her a lot clearer. It's not as bad as John Francis Moore's quantum power dealie from X-Force, but it started a bad trend.Melahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05539894845356203447noreply@blogger.com